Soil is the foundation of all beautiful parks and gardens. Parks and gardens provide millions of people relaxation, rejuvenation and recreation.

Soil is the stuff that home gardeners rhapsody about: it is source of all good edibles coming from the home garden.

And if that list wasn’t enough, soil also tells a story of the significance of soil in our lives. No one has portrays this better than The Smithsonian with their “Dig it! Secrets of Soil” website.

The site covers all the official/unofficial soils of each State on a postcard format. Besides visuals on location and appearance of the soil, the site also includes fun facts and stories. The stories give us glimpse at how soil intertwines with our lives.

For example, Mark Twain’s hometown, Hannibal, Missouri, is built on Menfro Soil, which is Missouri’s State Soil. And that New Mexico’s Official State Soil, Penistaja, is a Navajo name meaning “forced to sit.”

Just because soil is out of sight, it shouldn’t be out of mind. The least we can do for soil’s life-sustaining qualities is to honour it by picking an official or even an unofficial State/Provincial soil.

Cristina is a garden writer and instructor who specializes in the importance of soil in gardening.

Cristina has been instructing adults for over 30 years. Cristina also writes Soil Groundwork blog and runs a tweet chat called #groundchat, which discusses different soil-related topics on Twitter every Friday at 2 pm EST.

She is a longtime gardener (30+ years) with two degrees in horticulture. Her Masters covered aspects of soil and plant nutrition. Cristina has gardened in many types of soils. From sandy soil at 10 years old to clay soil garden in southern Ontario.